Ancient Fury
by Esuzumy
Summary: The AVALANCHE team will have to face their past, whether they like it or not... But can the team bring themselves to destroy an old ally?


**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII does **not** belong to me. Obviously. Otherwise I would be sitting around hugging my money... while working. Erm. Anyway, the only thing I own in this story is a few original characters (you'll spot them easily) and the story itself. Nothing else in the story is mine. Please do _not_ steal this story. You don't want to end up having a split-personality disorder and killing yourself now, do you? reference to a movie Oh, and this is a rewrite of a story I wrote a few years ago when I was 9 or 10, I'm 14 now, and I'd love to fix this story up. Contains spoilers.

Comments are appreciated, criticism definitely welcome.

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**Prologue**

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_"Stupid Yuffie and her stupid shoes... Why does she have to leave them in the doorway?" - **Cloud Strife**._

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It was a cold night in Costa De Sol. Although it's true that it's cold everywhere at night, it was usually an exception in Costa de Sol except for today. It was about 10pm, and the bars and shops were finally closing after the long day of work. The tourists were booking into inns, and locals were going back home after their wonderful day at the beach.  
It had been a good day, and even though it was 10pm, there was still a hazy string of orange left in the horizon of the shimmering water.The sky was cloudless, and it was a beautiful blue with orange swirls in it. A soft breeze swept through the town, the smell of seawater coming in at a moderate speed. 

It had been four years.  
Four years since that 'thing' had happened.  
Four years since that 'hell' had occurred.  
And "that hell" was of course, Sephiroth, Meteor... everything that had happened back _then_.

Not much had been spoken of those events anymore and it seemed as if everyone was starting to forget... but the scars were still everywhere on the Planet... and even in some towns that had played a rather major part in those events.  
In some towns, people were still edgy with each other, still wary, afraid that "that hell" would happen again...  
... But in Costa De Sol, everyone had either forgotten or had buried that memory deep inside the back of their minds. Which was probably why AVALANCHE had set up headquarters in this cheery place. Not only was it next to a gorgeous beach, it was also near a bar and people were still _happy and carefree_.

Costa De Sol had an atmosphere all that had been involved in the great battle needed.

The lights in the small headquarters that had been set up were dim, and it was as if everyone was going to sleep now. Or at least, they were getting comfortable and relaxed in the cool atmosphere and the waves crashing gently against the sand.

A girl who was walking along in the cool night smiled to herself, glossy-like red lips delicately done.  
She was humming a tune; a soft, slow and enchanting one as she walked. Her brown boots clicked softly along the stone road as she went.  
She was a pretty girl. Of maybe 5"6 in height. She had beautiful enchanting green eyes, which looked so mysterious and deep - yet so cold at the same time. Her face was like a doll's, perfect in every way, so intricate and yet, so fragile - as if the slightest touch would cause her to break into millions of pieces.  
Even the way her hair was done was perfect - you could probably find no tangles in her beautiful hazel-brown hair. Her delicate thin hair was done up at the back with a cute pink ribbon and a beautiful calming light-green, see-through ball-shaped jewel. It was a kind of crystal ball, reflecting light and distorting it. It was Materia. The rest of her long brown bangs had been curled and left out front - it looked so pretty, as if the hairstyle of an olden-day princess.  
She seemed like a little girl, carrying her delicate straw-woven basket loosely in both of her clasped hands. In the basket was a whole collection of simple flowers in many different shades of colors. There was probably every shade of color in the world in this basket. From a rare, delicate silver to a crimson blood red.

The girl was smiling as she hummed, her eyes sort of glazed over as she stopped in front of a door. She straightened her pink dress, although it really wasn't necessary as there weren't any creases in it, and raised a hand to rap her knuckles gently against the wooden door. The same blank smile filled her face, but she had stopped humming now. It didn't seem appropriate to hum when she was here to sell flowers – she had to make a good first impression on the residents of the house after all, didn't she?

After waiting a few moments, the girl could hear a rustle inside and the thudding of careless heavy boots on the wooden floor before the door opened inwards a tiny bit. No one appeared for a moment, but there were sounds of a slight struggle inside, and sounds of mutterings which sounded oddly like_ 'Stupid Yuffie and her stupid shoes... Why does she have to leave them in the doorway?'  
_The girl outside only smiled sweetly as she waited. As soon as a face appeared in the doorway, she straightened up, eyes eerily attentive as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Hello! Would you like to buy a flower, kind sir?"  
"... Pardon?" There was an almost awkward silence as a man stared at the girl, dumbfounded. He shook his head slightly, before speaking again. "I... What?"  
The man was struggling to find something to say. Mako-colored eyes had widened in disbelief as the young man raised a gloved hand; it seemed like he was about to grab her shoulders and shake her, but he only ran his hand through his spikey blonde hair nervously, gaping. He didn't care who saw his surprise, and he certainly didn't care if it was rude.  
"Flowers," The girl repeated, after watching him. "They're only one gil each."  
Still, the young man continued to say nothing, struggling yet again as he tried to form coherent words. Emotions were rampant in his mind, a tornado had formed in the calm depths of his soul. What he saw wasn't right at all, and he knew that, but still he wanted to reach out to touch her, to make sure she was real. Make sure she wasn't an illusion... make sure she wouldn't disappear on him again...  
"I guess you don't want to buy a flower, sir. That's rather unfortunate..." The girl smiled sadly, looking only mildly disappointed. What was 1 gil, really? Enough to buy what? Nothing. She started turning around, a cold expression on her face. Unlike her fake warmth before, her apathy was real. She was about to take a step away before the young man called out again.

"No, wait! Stop!" He had managed to finally blurt something out – not the greatest of words, but at least he had managed. He caught onto the girl's shoulder with one gloved hand, the one that he had been rising up and down before. The girl slowly turned around to make eye contact with him. Her eyes were cold and steely.  
"Yes, sir?" She said politely.  
"Y... yeah..." He stuttered, "Flowers..."  
"I don't understand."  
"Flowers... I... I want to buy one..." He trailed off for a moment, shaking his head vigorously before adding something. "Please."  
The girl only smiled gently, nodding her head down to her basket. "What color would you like?" She asked, her face smiling again. The young man paused, not quite sure what color he wanted. What color _did_ he want? Did he even want a freaking flower? No, not really... He just wanted to reach out and hug her, welcome her back... But at the same time, he wanted to kill her – he knew that she couldn't be real! She couldn't! She had been stabbed by Sephiroth... He had seen her... He had seen her fall... He had placed her into the water, gently, maybe lovingly...

"I... any." He said, after taking a deep breath. The girl looked as if she was pondering before she picked up a flower.  
"How about this crimson rose? It's scarlet, almost the shade of blood or rage. I think it suits you quite well, sir." She held out the red rose, which clearly wasn't what she had described – the rose was a deep maroon and it was wilting. For some reason, it no longer seemed as fresh as it had been a few seconds earlier. The young man did nothing but stare. "Your flower."  
"I... ah... Yeah... gil..." The young man had been caught off guard. Slowly, he took the rose, not minding the many thorns on it too much since his hands were gloved. Slowly, as if trying to buy time, he stuffed his hand into his pocket to find a gil. He found it all too quickly and held it out to her. The girl smiled coldly and bowed in appreciation.  
"Thankyou very much, sir," She said, taking a step backwards. "I'll be seeing you again." She smiled one last time before turning around, starting to walk off into the night where she had so unexpectedly appeared.

The young man stared for a moment, feeling a strange feeling in his stomach – was it 'butterflies' as they called it? It was an uneasy feeling for sure. He bit his lip, wanting to call out her name. Instead, he whispered it.  
"Aeris..." He watched her fade away into the black night, still dumbstruck and still not comprehending. Only a few thoughts ran through his mind; _'It's not true. It's not real, she's dead. No... It must be... a dream? No... a nightmare...'_

It was just not possible for her to be alive. To be alive and be at his _doorstep_ for that matter. She was dead, and he had no proof at all of what happened. The young man was just tired, right? Stressed after a long day of mercenary work, right?  
He closed his eyes, leaning against the doorframe for a moment before something struck his mind. His gloves hands had crushed the rose without him realising it as he thought about this one thought that lingered. This one, fatal thought that came out in a hoarse whisper.

"Aeris... if... that was real... then Sephiroth...? ... ... No..."


End file.
